The invention relates to locking devices and more particularly to a locking device for use with diving equipment.
Recreational and professional scuba divers require numerous accessories for underwater exploring and/or work. The accessories include air tanks, weights, buoyancy compensators, computors, wet suits, float balls/flags, and so forth. All such accessories are necessary for a safe dive and typically consist of the latest in technology. Thus, even if older equipment is used it is meticulously maintained since any failures could result in injury or death. For this reason, most any accessory used in diving is very expensive and, due to the portability of the profession, easily transported.
While many of the accessories can be hidden from the view of a potential thief, some of the accessories are impractical to conceal due to size, weight, space considerations or the inherent dangers associated with concealing some of the items. For instance, scuba tanks are commonly left on the deck of a boat due to problems in storage. Since scuba tanks are expensive and easily moved they make for easy prey by thieves.
Scuba tanks may be left on a deck of a boat due to lack of storage space but more commonly are left on the deck due to dangers associated with attempting to conceal scuba tanks. Scuba tanks are very heavy, weighing approximately 40 pounds when fully charged and contain 3000 pounds per square inch of compressed air. At the upper end of a scuba tank there is a K-valve that should it be broken off, the compressed air would project the K-valve flying at a velocity sufficient to cause death or serious injury to a person struck by it. Consequently, tanks are typically stored in the vertical position in the cockpit of a boat in a holder commonly referred to as a tank rack.
The amount of compressed air utilized by a scuba diver in the course of his underwater activities depends on the depth at which he is diving; greater amounts of air are utilized at greater depths. However, on the average, a diver will utilize a full tank of air in 30-40 minutes. For this reason, a diver will typically employ at least two tanks for any diving expedition. Since it is most unsafe to dive alone, a diver typically travels with at least one other diver which results in at least four scuba tanks that could be stolen if unattended.
There are various known tank racks that are designed to secure a particular size tank and may include provisions for locking of the scuba tanks. The following patents provide examples of scuba tank racks: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,791,403; 2,122,897; 3,193,778; 3,860,048; 3,693,830; and 1,174,185.
In addition, cable locking devices are known in the art. For instance Stone, U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,118 discloses a cable lock designed to facilitate locking motorcycles, bicycles, snowmobiles and outboard motors to a post or tree to prevent theft. The cable lock includes an elongated cable and a pair of mating block sections with means for securely locking the same around the cable to form a positively locked loop.
McCrea, U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,348, discloses a cable lock for surfboards. A sleeve fitting is swaged to a length of cable such that a loop is formed at the end of cable. This loop is used to secure the cable to a rack or other stationary component. A block is used to retain the cable around the object itself. The cable passes through a hole in one end of the block, wraps around the object, and slides into a slot in the other end of the block. An end fitting swaged to the cable prevents the cable from sliding out of the slot in a parallel direction. A padlock is used to prevent the cable from sliding out of the slot in a perpendicular direction. A setscrew is used to retain the block to the cable in the desired location.
Lyon et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,653, disclose a locking device for a looped cable which includes a casing in which one end of the cable is anchored and a passageway through the casing through which the other end of the cable can be passed. Within the casing is a cable clamp for reducing the size of the passageway, the clamp being threaded on a screw and movable to change the size of the passageway by rotation of the screw. The screw is rotatable by rotation of a lock mounted in the casing, the lock being rotatable by a key. The clamp cooperates with a bed to define the passageway, the clamp and bed having intercalated pyramidal teeth which can exert a vise-like grip on a cable of normally cylindrical shape.
Gerow, U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,919, discloses an adjustable cable loop locking system for securing two spaced apart articles, such as a boat to dock piling, with a length of flexible cable. The system includes first and second mechanisms slidably disposed on opposite end portions of a cable in which are formed first and second cable loops respectively. A flexible sheath, which may be a conventional hollow hydraulic hose, slidably covers a central portion of cable and is affixed on opposite ends thereof to the first and second mechanisms to fix the distance between the mechanism as measured along the central portion of the cable. The two lead-in portions of the first loop slidably extend through the first mechanism except that one of these lead-in portions which contains a free end of the cable can be selectively locked in a stationary position in the first mechanism by operation of a locking handle when desired. One of the lead-in portions of the second loop which extends from the first mechanism extends slidably through the second mechanism to the second loop, the end of the cable at the end of the second loop being fastened in the second mechanism. The arrangement permits securing two spaced apart articles together while needing to lock only the first of the two mechanisms.
Zakow, U.S. Pat. No. 4,212,175, discloses a lock for items of portable personal property. The lock includes a plurality of cables extending from a locking box which is mountable to a mounting surface. The items of personal property are mounted to the cables, and at least one end of each cable is secured to one of a plurality of nipples disposed within the box. The locking box has an inner box member and an outer box member which are matable to form the box; the width of the opposed side walls of both the inner box member and the outer box member are generally equal, so that jimmying, or forced opening of the box is precluded since the free edges of the side walls of the outer box member are contiguous with the fixed planar surface when the assembled box is mounted to the surface.
Best, U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,973, discloses an equipment lock for laboratory or office equipment and the like. To prevent removal of the items, separate cables are attached to four or more items of such equipment and have circumferentially-grooved end members which are received in separate bores in a single lock body and are locked therein by a key-controlled keeper. The keeper is a key-removable core inserted in a core chamber which partially intersects the cable-receiving bores, so that the core itself engages in the grooves of the cable end members to lock them against retraction. A mounting screw access passage traverses the core chamber, and is blocked by the core in such chamber to prevent access to a mounting screw inserted through such passage.
Leyden, U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,072, discloses a cable lock for securing a plurality of cables having a blocking shoulders on the ends. The cable lock has openings dimensioned to receive the cable shoulders. A cover is mounted for selective movement relative to the housing between a position permitting passage of the cable through the opening to a position preventing passage of the cable through the opening. The housing is secured with a key operated tumbler lock.
Keifer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,827, discloses a system for securing display items to a fixture or the like comprising a housing adapted to be secured to the fixture and a plurality of elongated cables for securing the display items to the fixture. Each cable has a means at one end for securing it to the display item and is detachably secured in the housing at its opposite end. The housing includes cable retention and release channels for a plurality of cables. The channels have an enlarged entrance portion and are configured to permit insertion and removal of the opposite ends of the cables so that any one of the cables may be inserted or removed individually. The housing includes a locking means blocking the entrance portion of the channels and a second position permitting removal of the cables.
However, what is lacking in the art is the ability to securely lock single, or a plurality, of scuba tanks to most any tank rack or fixed object as well as secure various accessories.
Briefly described, and in accordance with one embodiment thereof, the invention provides a scuba tank locking device formed from a lock plate having an aperture with a slot extending therefrom. A flexible cable having a distal end is permanently attached to the lock plate with a distal end available for wrapping around the component to be locked. The flexible cable includes a line crimp that engages the slot. The aperture is then available for receipt of a larger cable lock that secures the lock plate, and the attached accessory, to a fixed object.
It is an objective of the invention to provide an inexpensive, durable, reliable, and portable means of locking scuba tanks.
It is another objective of the invention to provide a locking device which can conveniently lock scuba tank accessories such as weights, regulators, gauge units, buoyancy compensators, and the like accessories.
It is another objective of the invention to provide a locking device wherein scuba tanks can be securely locked without the necessity of making precise tank positioning adjustments.
Still another objective of the invention is to provide a scuba lock system that can quickly and safely secure scuba tanks and gear, either on the dock, in a vehicle, or anywhere that opportunistic theft is a possibility.
Another objective of the invention is to provide a locking device that can lock scuba tanks of various heights and diameters.
Other objectives and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention. The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include, exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.